How God Will Destroy the Earth

“Who establishes the earth on her sure foundation: it shall not be
moved forever.” Psalms 104:5

When the great battle of Armageddon is over, Elohim, who is God of Israel, will make our New Jerusalem (the Holy City) descend onto earth. Prior to the descent of our “new” heaven and earth, God has reserved the “present” heavens and earth for a judgment. God has kept this earth for a special event and a fire will cause its destruction one day. Peter 3:7, “But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.” In the past, earth had been destroyed, and its geological eco-system was wiped out because of the flood. With the exception of Noah and his family, the flood left no one alive, including all of the animal kingdom. God’s judgment was in fact the direct cause of human wickedness. Genesis 6:5, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.”

There are many similarities of our generation to Noah’s generation and to Lot’s generation. Luke 17:27-30, “They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Like wise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.” It is not very hard as Christians (followers of Christ) to look at this world and see the idolatry that it partakes in each day. The same things quoted in the aforementioned verse are exactly what are going on in this generation. Sadly, there will be many people who will not know the Messiah when He returns and the Son of Man reveals Himself to us.

Why did God wait so long until He brought the deluge to the earth? There are many scriptures pointing to the fact that the Lord did not want anyone to perish. 2 Peter 3:9 shows His mercy toward humanity. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” After the cataclysmic changes from the floodwaters, it is interesting that there is not another earth God had to create for His children to inhabit. Another factor to consider would be that the waters did not annihilate the earth. The writer of 2 Peter 3:10, describes the situation in the near future being that “the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.”

Then, another verse of 2 Peter 3:7, states: “But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.” Everything about what the writer of 2 Peter had said is intriguing. Initially, we have knowledge that the Lord will destroy the earth by fire. Secondly, there are orders of events that must happen before the promised Messiah makes His second coming. Thirdly, “the heavens and the earth are being kept and reserved for fire until the Day of Judgment and the destruction of the godless.” Fourthly, Paul told us that the elements would be dissolved with a fire, and earth and everything in it will be disclosed. When Paul refers to the word “elements,” what did he possibly mean? The writer of 2 Peter tells us the Greek word that he used for elements is “Stoicheion.”

The Greek word “Stoicheion” details for us the rudiments of our Cosmology. The four elements of the earth are earth, fire, air, and water. They will all be burned up and destroyed by the fire, for all these things that God made are perishable. However only the surface will be destroyed. The earth itself will be eternal. “This phrase, Yet once more, indicates the removal of what is shaken that is, created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain,” Hebrews 12:27. Therefore, by using the Greek word “Stoicheion,” we learned how Elohim is going to destroy the earth’s elements with fire, simultaneously with the earth’s firmament. Genesis 1:15-17, describes the firmament. “And let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, (sun), and the lesser light to rule the night (moon and stars). He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth.”

Though we are not positive how He will actually destroy it, many pastors and theologians pinpoint the idea that God will use the sun to destroy the firmament and its elements. However, Elohim could use another source we are not aware of. The Cosmology of the earth and everything in it will “pass away.” God, who caused the flood of Noah’s day, will again renew the earth the way it was in the beginning. Hebrews 1:10-11, “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like clothing; like a cloak you will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed.”

Both water and fire are a direct consequence of judgment on people who are not willing and wanting to adhere to the Lord God, for Elohim has given His followers an order. “Hear, Israel! Adonai our God, Adonai is one; and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart,” Deuteronomy 6:4-6